The primary goal in the treatment of wounds is to achieve wound closure. Open cutaneous wounds represent one major category of wounds and include burn wounds, wounds resulting from chemical (especially alkali) burns, wounds from physical trauma, neuropathic ulcers, pressure sores, venous stasis ulcers, and diabetic ulcers. Open cutaneous wounds routinely heal by a process which comprises six major components: i) inflammation, ii) fibroblast proliferation, iii) blood vessel proliferation, iv) connective tissue synthesis, v) epithelialization, and vi) wound contraction. Wound healing is impaired when these components, either individually or as a whole, do not function properly. Numerous factors can affect wound healing, including but not limited to malnutrition, systemic debility due to a variety of causes, wound infection, local lack of progenitor cells, local and/or systemic pharmacological agents (e.g., numerous chemotherapeutic agents, actinomycin and steroids), repeated local trauma, diabetes and other endocrine/metabolic diseases (e.g., Cushing's disease), and advanced age (Hunt and Goodson, 1988, Current Surgical Diagnosis & Treatment, Appleton & Lange, pp. 86-98). Additionally, wounds that are extensive in size, regardless of the initiating cause, present special challenges due to the large surface area that must be re-epithelialized to re-establish surface integrity.
Delayed wound healing causes substantial morbidity in subjects with diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder of glucose metabolism and homeostasis that damages many organs. It is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States (Harris et al., 1987, Diabetes 36:523). In persons with diabetes, vascular disease, neuropathy, infections, and recurrent trauma predispose the extremities, especially the foot, to pathologic changes. These pathological changes can ultimately lead to chronic ulceration, which may necessitate amputation. Chronic wounds and wounds with pathological or dysregulated healing represent a major health burden and drain on health care resources. Chronic wounds have major impacts on the physical and mental health, productivity, morbidity, mortality and cost of care for affected individuals. The most common types of chronic wounds are caused by systemic diseases such as diabetes, vascular problems such as venous hypertension and by immobility-induced pressure sores; accounting for 70% of all chronic wounds. Statistics on the prevalence of chronic wounds varies, however studies report that 0.2% to 1% of the population suffer from venous ulcers, 0.5% from pressure ulcers, and 5% to 10% of people with diabetes experience neuropathic ulcers. The economic impact of chronic wounds for these conditions alone in the United States has been estimated to be well over $15 billion, annually. With the population growing older, cases of diabetes mellitus will increase as will the magnitude of the problem associated with chronic wounds in these patients.
Normal wound healing is an enormously complex process involving the coordinated interplay between fibroblasts, vascular cells, extracellular matrix and epithelial cells to result in a seamless progression through an inflammatory reaction, wound repair, contracture and coverage by an epithelial barrier. However, in many patients, due to either the local wound environment or systemic disease or other factors, the wound healing processes can become asynchronous (i.e., loss of connectivity with triggering mechanisms associated with prior cellular events) and are unable to progress to closure, resulting in a chronic ulcer.
Wounds that do not readily heal can cause the subject considerable physical, emotional, and social distress as well as great financial expense (Richey et al., 1989, Annals of Plastic Surgery 23:159). Indeed, wounds that fail to heal properly and become infected may require excision of the affected tissue. A number of treatment modalities have been developed as scientists' basic understanding of wounds and wound healing mechanisms has progressed.
The most commonly used conventional modality to assist in wound healing involves the use of wound dressings. In the 1960s, a major breakthrough in wound care occurred when it was discovered that wound healing with moist, occlusive dressings was, generally speaking, more effective than the use of dry, non-occlusive dressings (Winter, 1962, Nature 193:293). Today, numerous types of dressings are routinely used, including films (e.g., polyurethane films), hydrocolloids (hydrophilic colloidal particles bound to polyurethane foam), hydrogels (crosslinked polymers containing about at least 60% water), foams (hydrophilic or hydrophobic), calcium alginates (nonwoven composites of fibers from calcium alginate), and cellophane (cellulose with a plasticizer) (Kannon and Garrett, 1995, Dermatol. Surg. 21:583; Davies, 1983, Burns 10:94). Unfortunately, certain types of wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers, pressure sores) and the wounds of certain subjects (e.g., recipients of exogenous corticosteroids) do not heal in a timely manner (or at all) with the use of such dressings.
Several pharmaceutical modalities have also been utilized in an attempt to improve wound healing. For example, some practitioners have utilized treatment regimens involving zinc sulfate. However, the efficacy of these regimens has been primarily attributed to their reversal of the effects of sub-normal serum zinc levels (e.g., decreased host resistance and altered intracellular bactericidal activity) (Riley, 1981, Am. Fam. Physician 24:107). While other vitamin and mineral deficiencies have also been associated with decreased wound healing (e.g., deficiencies of vitamins A, C and D; and calcium, magnesium, copper, and iron), there is no strong evidence that increasing the serum levels of these substances above their normal levels actually enhances wound healing. Thus, except in very limited circumstances, the promotion of wound healing with these agents has met with little success.
Current clinical approaches used to promote healing in dysregulated wounds include protection of the wound bed from mechanical trauma (e.g. splinting, bandaging), meticulous control of surface microbial burden (antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides, bacteriophages, antiseptics and other antimicrobial compounds that broadly inhibit wound pathogens (e.g. silver sulfadiazine) combined with topical application of soluble cytoactive factors (e.g. growth factors exemplified by but not limited to epidermal growth factor-EGF, exogenous extracellular matrix constituents such as fibronectin), surgical excision of the wound margin or entire bed and surgical placement of tissue flaps and/or autografts, allografts and xenografts. All of these approaches fall short of promoting optimal healing conditions in many of the most challenging wounds. It is likely that a major contributing factor to the failure of these traditional approaches is the fact that they do not alter the intrinsic chemistry/structure of the wound bed itself that has been shown in many cases to contribute significantly to their persistence. Additionally, the historical use of a single factor or set of factors to treat all wounds often falls short due to the great heterogeneity found in wound beds themselves and the complex environment of the wound itself containing a community of signaling molecules that frequently modulate the activity of individual molecules.
The complex nature of pathologic wounds, and the lack of significant clinical progress based on current therapies, indicates the urgent need for new and unconventional approaches. What is needed is a safe, effective, and interactive means for enhancing the healing of chronic and severe wounds. The methods should be adaptable without regard to the type of wound, or the nature of the patient population, to which the subject belongs.